Nationalisme et protection sociale: une approche comparative

The following article explores the links between sub-state nationalism and social policy. Instead of focusing only on the québécois-Canadian situation, the aim is to offer a comparative perspective that could enrich our understanding of the relationship between nationalism and social policy. In order to achieve that, this work sketches a theoretical framework that allows for a better understanding of the increasingly common meshing of national identity and social policy questions. Furthermore, this article explores the possible impact of nationalist movements on welfare state development. The objective is to show that sub-state nationalism and social policy are articulated together in at least three different ways. First, some regional governments enact social programs that can favour the construction of a territorial identity distinct from the one associated with the central state. Second, social policy issues frequently become poles of nationalist mobilization which may lead to a decentralization of social programs. Finally, nationalist movements are involved in the social policy agenda-setting process, at both the sub-state and the state levels. Empirically, the article illustrates the relationship between sub-state nationalism and social policy through a comparison between the Belgian (Flanders) and the Canadian (Québec) cases. Far from affecting only the specific regions in which nationalist movements exist, the meshing of sub-state nationalism and social policy can have an enduring impact on the broad elaboration of social policy in multinational states like Belgium and Canada.